


Under Pressure

by soft_but_gremlin



Series: Whumptober 2020 [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Building Collapse, Gen, Injury, Missions Gone Wrong, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:54:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26829172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soft_but_gremlin/pseuds/soft_but_gremlin
Summary: They'd been investigating a building that allegedly had important Separatist intel inside when the bomb went off.(Whumptober Day 4: collapsed building)
Relationships: Boil & Waxer (Star Wars), CC-2224 | Cody & CT-7567 | Rex, CC-2224 | Cody & Ghost Company, CC-2224 | Cody & Obi-Wan Kenobi
Series: Whumptober 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946629
Comments: 6
Kudos: 145





	Under Pressure

Cody groaned as he painfully dragged himself back to consciousness. He opened his eyes slowly, and winced as his HUD sparkled in technicolor. The visor behind it was cracked. He couldn’t see anything beyond his bucket. Quiet static crackled in his ears; either he was no longer on the channel where all the chatter was, or the signals were being jammed.

He did a self-assessment. He was able to wiggle all his fingers and toes, and nothing seemed to be broken. There was a heavy weight pressed on his chest and bucket that made it difficult to breathe, but not impossible. His armor was protecting him, for now. Did protect him, probably, from being crushed to death immediately.

What had happened?

He’d been patrolling with Obi-Wan, Waxer, and Boil. They’d gone into a building that was suspected to contain important Separatist intel and then...what?

The weight on his chest was starting to hurt. He moved his hands to it, trying to feel it out. It seemed to be large and flat. A crate maybe, or a plank. He tried to push it off him.

“Hold!”

“Hold!”

“Don’t!”

Three voices rang out, cutting through the static. Two that he recognized as vode, and one with a distinct Coruscanti accent.

“General, you okay?” he asked.

“Fine, Cody,” Obi-Wan said. His voice was tight, and his breathing sounded ragged, panicked. Lying, then.

“Waxer, Boil, you okay?” he asked, deciding to come back to that later.

“I’m fine, sir,” Waxer said, and he  _ did _ actually sound fine. “Boil’s pinned, but we don’t think it’s anything too severe. How about you?”

“Well, I’ve been feeling a bit under pressure here lately.”

There was one weak chuckle at that. All right. The situation must be more serious than he thought.

“How badly is the General lying?” Cody asked.

“‘The General’ can speak for himself--”

“Physically I believe he’s fine, sir,” Waxer reported.

Cody sighed. “Really don’t like the way you answered that, Lieutenant.”

“Really didn’t like giving that answer, Commander.”

“I am  _ fine _ , Cody.”

That, at least, sounded more like the General he knew.

“He’s on the verge of a panic attack, sir,” Boil said. “Didn’t know he was claustrophobic, but I’ll be sure to remember that in the future.”

“I’m not claustrophobic,” Obi-Wan said. “It’s not the small space that bothers me, it’s the structural integrity of the debris around us.”

“Well, keep it together, sir,” Cody said dryly, hoping humor would help diffuse the panic. “If you start crying, I’m gonna cry, and it’d be really embarrassing for General Skywalker to see us having a pity party when he rescues us.”

That, at least, got a small chuckle.

“Waxer, what’s on top of me?” he asked.

“Durasteel beam,” Waxer said. “And some plaster or something. Whatever they make ceilings out of in multistory buildings. But it looks really unstable where you’re at, so I wouldn’t recommend moving it.”

“Alright,” Cody said, gritting his teeth. He really hated that answer. “You got anybody on comms? Anyone on the outside aware of the situation?”

“The debris is too thick for comm signals,” Boil said with a sigh.

“Anakin feels like he’s heading this way, but not very quickly,” Obi-Wan said. “I doubt he knows anything beyond that  _ something’s _ happened.”

“What the kriff even  _ did _ happen?” Cody asked.

“Building exploded,” Waxer said. “Even odds on whether it was on purpose or not.”

“Oh, I’m sure it was on purpose,” Obi-Wan said. “Whether it was for the purpose of killing us, or just destroying evidence and we merely happened to be here, now  _ that _ is debatable.”

“So I’m pinned,” Cody said, getting them back on track. “There’s a durasteel beam on my chest. Boil’s pinned. What about you other two?”

“I’m not pinned but I can’t go anywhere,” Obi-Wan said. “I was in the doorway, which held up pretty well during the explosion, but the ceiling has pretty much collapsed around it so I’m rather trapped, I’m afraid.”

“I’ve got about three square meters of space I can crawl around in,” Waxer said. “Maybe a bit more if I’m exceedingly careful. I  _ can  _ get to both you and Boil, but I’d hesitate to do so unless absolutely necessary.” 

Cody thought about that information. “Looks like we’re stuck, for the moment.”

There were grumbles of agreement.

Cody lay there for a few moments, thinking. Trying to keep his breathing steady and not focus on the pain. Listening as the General’s breathing became increasingly unsteady.

“Hey General, tell us a story,” Cody said suddenly.

“A  _ story? _ ” Obi-Wan asked, confused out of his panic for a moment.

“Yeah. Pass the time. Keep our mind off things. It’s the only time you’re guaranteed a captive audience.”

“What do you want a story about?”

“Tell us about your first kiss,” Boil joked, wheezing slightly.

“Ah, not much of a story there,” Obi-Wan said dryly. “Different war, different collapsed structure, and two kids who didn’t want to die without meeting an arbitrary milestone of adolescence.”

“Tell us a  _ fun _ story,” Waxer said.

“Mmm,” Obi-Wan said, thinking. “Did I tell you the one about the time Master Tholme had to bail Quin and I out of jail?”

“No sir,” Cody hissed.

There was a smile in Obi-Wan’s voice as he began. “Well, you see, it was originally Master Averross’s idea…”

Cody focused on Obi-Wan’s words. The story allowed him to think about something besides how uncomfortably heavy the debris was against his chest and skull. Breathing was getting difficult, it felt like, and he wasn’t sure if that was real or imagined. They might be running out of air too. He could see why Obi-Wan might grow to fear a situation like this.

Cody listened to the story as well as he could through staticky receivers and his own worry. Then, as Obi-Wan said, “...and that, of course, is when they decided to arrest Master Jinn as well,” he heard it.

Four slow bangs from somewhere above them. The Trouble Toll, a galaxy-wide distress signal.

Someone was here for them.

He slammed his hand against the metal beam as loud as he could, returning the signal. Nearby, he heard Boil gasp in hope and relief. 

It seemed like they waited forever after that, moments of noise punctuated by silence and Tolling to determine their location. Finally, the air did something weird, and then the pressure was lifted off his chest, and Cody took his first deep breath in who knows how long. It hurt like hell, but he could do it.

He suddenly found himself on a stretcher, and Rex had a hand around his, a forehead to his, and Cody didn’t need the Force to tell how worried his little brother was.

“Is Boil hurt?” Cody asked, because he needed to keep an eye out for his men first and foremost.

“No worse than you,” Rex said. “You’re lucky that none of your ribs ended up puncturing a lung.”

“Are they broken?” Cody asked dumbly. Rex just gave a broken laugh at that, which didn’t really answer the question.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Anakin and Obi-Wan clinging tightly. That seemed about right. No matter how much Anakin complained about Obi-Wan, he always panicked whenever the General was in danger.

There was another stretcher nearby, and Cody thought he saw Waxer standing nearby. That must be Boil then. Good. His men were safe. That was good.

He let himself relax as the stretcher started moving. He could trust Rex to take it from here.


End file.
